Hatcher Pinot noir 06
Hatcher Wineworks' Pinot noir is made in very small amounts by Bill Hatcher, former manager of Domaine Drouhin, and part owner of A to Z Winery.
MORE INFORMATION
From the winery:
ABOUT THE 2004 VINTAGE: Spring augured a reprise of the previous summer's warmth with an early leaf but she turned fickle in May with chill and rain, nipping the forming buds to curtail the resultant flowering and set. There was no need for green harvesting as most vineyards struggled to produce two tons to the acre.
Summer itself was typical of Western Oregon with temperate days and evening breezes that drift inland from the ocean to beg a sweater at sundown. True to form, the months of July and August were dry until the very end when uncommon rains fell for most of a week. Most of us, however, welcomed the moisture to mitigate the possibility of warm September winds ripening the fruit too quickly.
There was no need to worry. While the genial warmth continued for two weeks, the rain returned in earnest on September 11, falling unrelentingly for eight days. I penciled a note in my journal on the 19th, wondering if the harvest might be lost. Then, the 20th dawned bright as did each of the next seventeen days. Just as the cold accompanying the rain had forestalled mildew, so too had the slowly returning warmth. The elixir of cool ripening brought on by the rain and subsequent gentle drying coaxed the fruit to its fullest expression, producing some of the most elegant Pinot Noirs Oregon has known.
ABOUT THE WINE: The essence of my winemaking is that less is more. The fruit will reveal the wine to the winemaker. Accordingly, the winemaker shepherds the wine rather than makes it. Notably, there is no word for "winemaker" in French, Italian or Spanish: one is a vigneron, viticoltore or vinicultor the idea being that the wine is made in the vineyard.
In a given vintage, the optimal blend may be comprised of only half or more of the barrels in the cellar. As with the preparation of a fine meal, it is a question of what precisely informs the whole. Too much of the richest ingredient may overwhelm the balance. Thus, A to Z, our sister project, is always blessed with some beautiful barrels.
In particular, the 2004 weaves the bright raspberry, cassis and loganberry flavors of the 2003 with mocha, vanilla and cinnamon. The intensity of the fruit swells to a silky mouth feel and finishes long on fine tannins. With a firm acidic backbone, the wine will continue to develop and please for at least a decade.
